Continuing its long-term investment in the future of its iconic Tanglewood venue and festival, and to ensure that Tanglewood remains accessible for everyone, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced the public phase of Tanglewood Forever, a $64 million donor-funded initiative that will expand Tanglewood’s creative intersection of music and learning, enhance its natural beauty, improve the visitor experience, connect communities, and ensure its future.

Led by BSO Trustee Cynthia Curme as Campaign Chair, Tanglewood Forever supports Tanglewood’s distinctive place among the world’s prestigious summer music festivals and its goal of expanding the creative intersection between music and learning through the new Tanglewood Learning Institute launching in summer 2019.

“Tanglewood has been an essential part of my life, and my family’s life, for more than 30 years,” said Curme. “I am honored to chair the Tanglewood Forever Campaign which will enhance the Tanglewood experience for everyone today and far into the future. Friends and family who were brought to Tanglewood by their grandparents are now bringing their own grandchildren to enjoy the blend of music, nature, community, and learning. We look to our wonderful friends, patrons, and generous donors whose lives have been immeasurably enriched by Tanglewood, to help pass this great gift along to future generations.”

Coinciding with Tanglewood’s 75th Anniversary in 2012, the BSO launched a strategic plan focused on strengthening Tanglewood for the future. The first step required addressing decades of deferred maintenance on campus before taking on new capital projects. In 2012, the BSO quietly launched Tanglewood Forever, the first step in securing the financial resources necessary to implement immediate improvements to the Tanglewood facilities and grounds. Over the next three years, gifts from many generous Tanglewood donors helped complete dozens of capital projects.

While these improvements took place, the BSO continued to refine its long-term goals for Tanglewood, including enhancing existing programs and creating innovative learning opportunities. The BSO developed the concept for the Tanglewood Learning Institute (TLI), a program to provide a wide array of educational and enrichment experiences that encourage a closer connection between artists and audiences. Simultaneously, it sought to create much-needed rehearsal and performance spaces for the Tanglewood Music Center (TMC), the orchestra’s acclaimed summer academy for advanced musical study.

The synthesis between these two goals inspired the creation of the center for music and learning project, an integral part of the donor-funded Tanglewood Forever initiative. Now under construction and scheduled to open in summer 2019 with the launch of the TLI, the center for music and learning will be a new multi-use, multi-season four-building complex to meet the needs of both educational programs. Designed by William Rawn Associates, the architects of Seiji Ozawa Hall, this new building complex will provide optimal conditions for the activities of the TMC and TLI. In addition, these new climate-controlled buildings, which can adapt to accommodate groups of various sizes and purposes, will be available to the Berkshire community for use in the off season.

Already a driver of more than $103 million in economic impact in the Berkshires each year, based on a third-party study by Stephen Sheppard, Professor of Economics at Williams College, Tanglewood will increase its economic impact on the Berkshires during the period of construction of the four-building complex in support of the TLI and TMC to $127 million annually; this number represents a 110% increase over the $60 million economic impact number from the 2008 study. Further, the expected increase in visitors to the Tanglewood Learning Institute will continue to drive more tourism revenue for the local area throughout each Tanglewood season. BSO Trustee Joyce Linde is the Chair of the TMC/TLI Initiative Committee.

Concurrent with the center for music and learning project, Tanglewood Forever donors have supported significant horticultural improvements throughout the campus, and the BSO has committed to a horticultural vision for Tanglewood through the development of a new landscape framework plan to guide future work.

With increased use of the Bernstein Campus from TMC and TLI activities, Tanglewood Forever donros will also support improved facilities to enhance the patron experience and make that part of campus more welcoming and efficient. Overall, the area will become more appealing to guests, will better serve growing audiences, and will encourage productive, social, community-oriented gathering on the Bernstein Campus.

Finally, to ensure Tanglewood’s future as a home for music, education, and community, Tanglewood Forever endowment donors will provide funding to ensure that future capital and programming needs will be robustly supported. Along with future programmatic enhancements, Tanglewood Forever donors also help support existing free and reduced-price ticket programs that provide access to Tanglewood for more than 15,000 people each season, ensuring that Tanglewood remains available for everyone and anyone who wishes to experience its unique intersection of music and nature. The BSO seeks $10 million in support for endowment for these initiatives, as part of the overall $64 million Tanglewood Forever goal.

As of the end of June 2018, Tanglewood Forever donors have contributed more than $54.4 million toward the campaign’s $64 million goal. Tanglewood Forever will continue through summer 2019, which will mark the first year of the new center for music and learning facility, as well as inaugural season of the Tanglewood Learning Institute.

The donor-funded Tanglewood Forever campaign, which continues through August 31, 2019, has surpassed its $64 million goal, raising $70 million as of July 8, 2019. Fundraising efforts—also in support of the new year-round programming opportunities made possible by Tanglewood’s first-ever four-season venue, the Linde Center—will continue past Tanglewood forever campaign completion.

As the new studios at the Linde Center for Music and Learning are tuned and acoustically calibrated, the structures at the Ozawa Gate continue to take shape.

Donate Today

You can help the BSO ensure that Tanglewood remains vibrant and unique among summer festivals by supporting Tanglewood Forever. Donate online now, or contact the BSO Development Office at 617-638-9267 or friendsoftanglewood@bso.org for more information.